Fallen Angel: Estasia (2)

The Imperial Palace, located in the center of Crossbridge.

There, Peter looked at his enemy in front of him with a troubled eye.

He thought the fight would be easy after he dealt with Arien Crost, the strongest in the holy land, but contrary to his expectations, there were many strong enemies left in the holy land.

One of them was the old man of Varna who was in front of Peter right now.

The old man’s body, which tore his shirt and exposed his upper body, looked sturdy unlike his age.

“Evil heretics cannot step on the threshold of the Imperial Palace.”

Emperor, Highpright II.

He flexed his impressive muscles and unleashed a massive amount of divine power.

Peter had thought he was a frail old man when he first encountered him.

But when the emperor revealed his full strength, he turned out to be nothing like what Peter had imagined.

Highpright II seemed to defy age itself. He possessed a physical prowess that even the knights of the holy land could not match.

Peter had no idea how much training it would take to reach that level.

“…This is absurd.”

Peter wiped the blood from his lips and glared at Highpright II.

He had assumed that the emperor was a powerful cleric who wielded miracles from afar with a staff. He had charged at him without hesitation.

That assumption was shattered when he received several blows from Highpright II’s fists.

He was a martial artist who fought with his bare hands.

His aged appearance concealed a mysterious skill that seemed beyond his years.

“Foolish heretics. Do not rely on your miracles and act arrogantly.”

“…”

To make matters worse, the old man’s waist was adorned with various holy relics.

The combined force of his fists and holy relics was too much for Peter’s white sword and cloak to handle.

He could suppress some of the power of the holy relics by invoking a sanctuary. But right now, another apostle was maintaining the sanctuary instead of Peter.

He had to rely on pure speed using Dainsleif. But Highpright II was also superior in reaction speed and combat sense compared to Arien, who was a mage.

If he carelessly closed the gap, he would only get punched and flee.

“The history of Crossbridge is not so light that it can be destroyed by the corrupted ones.”

“I don’t know about that…”

Peter straightened his body and spoke again.

Unlike the Imperial Palace in the center of Crossbridge, the six temples that made up the holy land were not in good condition.

Two bridges leading to two temples had been destroyed, one hero had been disabled, and there was also a saintess who had lost her life.

And they had also secured the item they were aiming for.

The reinforcements from the kingdom had departed, but it would not be easy to approach the holy land with the black sky spread out.

“You know, if you take off all those things on your waist and fight me, you might lose to me.”

“What…?”

“If you’re confident, take them off and come at me.”

If this boring fight continued, it meant that the cult would win in the end.

Knowing that, Peter continued to fight.

As time passed, Dainsleif’s power grew stronger, and Peter, who experienced the battle with his body, also grew more.

Time was on Peter and Dainsleif’s side.

“You’re not confident? All the great clerics think alike.”

“…Foolish heretics.”

“I’m not going to let go of the things I’m holding in my hand.”

Clang.

Peter tilted his twin swords and took his stance.

There was a faint smile on Peter’s lips as he pointed his swords at him.

He was no longer afraid of how strong his opponent was.

He was not the weak country boy he used to be since he held the two swords.

“Goddess, guide us——.”

“Evil god! Guide me too! And make me faster than that guy!”

It was now the era of Apostle Peter.

***

A warm and cozy feeling.

But I felt a strange tickle in my nose, and I felt my consciousness floating.

Blink. Blink.

When I woke up from a sleep I didn’t know when I fell into, I saw a white wing covering me.

I could tell whose wing it was without looking at his face.

It was a white wing with thick feathers.

Next to me, I saw Estasia lying on the bed and watching TV.

“Strawberry ice cream… It looks delicious.”

Flap.

Estasia’s wings trembled slightly as she watched the ice cream ad.

I looked at her wings and then gently bit one of them.

Chomp.

With a bit of force in my teeth, Estasia screamed and flew high into the sky.

“Eek…!”

Thud.

Estasia hit her head on the ceiling and fell on the bed.

She had flown once and came back. She started to curl up and hold her head.

She must have hit her head pretty hard on the ceiling.

I saw Estasia curling up on the bed and a smile formed on my lips.

“Not bad for a blanket.”

“…You’re a bad person, master.”

Estasia buried her head in the blanket and muttered a small complaint to me.

A bad person.

She had changed her word from last time.

Maybe she had adapted to the human-centered perspective by watching TV, or maybe she had blurted out something in panic.

She still had an amusing reaction.

“Then I’ll confiscate your ice cream for a while.”

“Actually, Estasia was a bad angel who lied.”

“Yeah? Then it’s not my fault.”

“That’s right. Master did nothing wrong.”

It was hard to imagine this when I faced Estasia through my smartphone.

She was so quick-witted that she blocked most of my pranks back then.

But now Estasia was burying her head in the blanket next to me.

I ruffled her hair a little and picked up my smartphone from the corner of the bed.

“Estasia. How long have I been sleeping?”

“I don’t know. I found you sleeping on the roof and brought you to this room.”

“Collapsed on the roof… Oh, was it because of Estelle?”

I was spending time alone on the roof when I met Estelle and talked to her.

She must have left me asleep after we finished talking.

The time on my smartphone wasn’t much different from when I was on the roof.

It was proof that Estelle’s influence on me was decreasing as time passed.

Maybe it had something to do with me becoming closer to a complete god.

“You’re still a vile character.”

He was hard to like no matter how I thought about it.

He was adept at playing with people like toys.

He didn’t treat his fellow gods much differently either. It didn’t seem like it would end well even if he was with Estelle.

Of course, I wouldn’t make such a choice by my own will.

I snorted and teased Estelle for a while, then pressed the button on my smartphone to turn on the screen.

“Are you checking the war first?”

“I have to. It looks like it’s getting closer to a stalemate, but I still have to hold out in the holy land for a while.”

Swoosh.

As soon as I started the game, the progress of the <Descent> quest came into my sight first.

It was written as a quest, but it was actually a requirement that Estelle wanted from me.

The progress of the quest that I could see at a glance was very different from before the war.

-The progress of <Descent> will increase by one step for each of the following conditions met:

Available karma: 882331 / 999999 (Incomplete)

-[Holy Relic: Ergus’s Stake]: 1 / 1 (Complete)

-[Philosopher’s Stone]: 1 / 1 (Complete)

-[Origin Heart]: 1 / 1 (Complete)

-Create a body for Descent (Complete)

The quest to obtain the [Origin Heart] was completed.

Eutenia had managed to access the place where the [Origin Heart] was kept and obtained the target.

The temples were far apart from each other, and it was nearly impossible to defend them all with the holy land’s forces.

That’s why it was only natural that we got the [Origin Heart] sooner than the end of the war.

There were also many casualties among the believers in the process of taking over the temples.

“…I wish I could have intervened more.”

In this war, I only intervened when it was absolutely necessary.

It was because my power was quickly drained by the apostles using magic simultaneously.

My power recovered a bit every hour, but the apostles also consumed a lot as they continued to fight.

If I used too much power, I might leave the other apostles vulnerable.

So I only acted when I thought my intervention was needed.

It was unavoidable that I saw the faces of the believers who couldn’t be saved.

“The karma supply is also much faster. It doesn’t seem like there’s much left until we reach a million.”

The accumulated karma was also rapidly approaching a million.

Most of the huge karma supply came from the war that was raging in the empire.

From Centrius, where the cult’s headquarters was located, to the northern part of the continent where Arcrosis was, the flames of war were spreading everywhere.

At the center of such an empire, Emperor Aicliff was stirring up the war.

A large amount of karma was coming in because of the civil war that erupted in all directions.

“…A million karma. It seemed like a number that would never be within my reach.”

It was a huge amount of karma, regardless of my growth level.

It was not easy to estimate how long it would take to collect that much karma.

Yet, I was close to achieving my goal.

At this pace, I would reach a million karma in no time.

“What happens when you collect all the karma?”

“Well, I don’t know either.”

What situation would I face when I reached a million karma?

I had no clue about that.

But I knew clearly what I had to do after that.

I had prepared many things for that purpose.

“I’ll have to make a grand spectacle. I made that promise with her.”

The message I sent to the goddess of abundance without Estelle knowing.

The contract we made under the sky of karma was still valid.

Since my biggest goal was to stop Estelle’s plan, there would be some deviations from my original goal.

But I was sure that Estelle’s reaction to the gift I prepared would be intense.

“Shall we start the countdown?”

I got up from my seat and spoke to Estasia, who was wrapped in a blanket.

I couldn’t miss the preparations for a good day.

Alcohol and food. And a cannon for a monument.

I decided to prepare what might be the last supper for me and Estasia here.

“Let’s make egg fried rice today. It’s a special day.”

“We had egg fried rice yesterday too.”

“That was golden fried rice.”

“…”